schneefink

I hadn't planned to write about Austrian politics, but I need to rant.

Our vice chancellor, finance minister, and head of the People's Party stepped down yesterday because of health-related reasons. He was not completely incompetent (and so much better than Grasser, who was stupid and corrupt), so I'd say it's a loss.

The problem is that he didn't name a successor. Meaning they're already fighting for his positions. It becomes painfully obvious that we're lacking competent politicians who could step up.

1) Please, please don't promote Mitzi Fekter. She's minister of the interior and either paranoid, stupid, or trying to steal the voters of the right-wing party with her immigration policies. Okay, no, I guess it's just genuinely her belief. Which is even more frightening.

2) Hopefully whoever steps up will fire Bandion-Ortner, minister of justice. She only got the position because she was a judge in one of the largest business trials, and by now they found out how many grievous legal mistakes she made in that sentence. A minister of justice should not make as many mistakes about law as she constantly does. She's not even sure if she's attorney general or not and seems to get involved with ongoing trials arbitrarily or at least depending on how the media reports on it. About the recent discussion - separation of powers, anyone? And hey, here's a thought: if you think the prosecutors and judges aren't working fast enough, how about appointing more of them instead of less? Everyone working in the legal system says we need at least twice as many public prosecutors, especially for business trials, but not, the state wants to save money in that area. Fair trials are a basic principle of constitutional states. This includes actually making going to trial affordable for everyone instead of continuing to raise all sorts of legal fees. And the fight against corruption everyone is talking about will not work without prosecutors who, you know, bring corrupt people to court. How can they not get that? I thought we're not in Italy! (Sorry, Italy.)

3) Just heard on the radio that Spindelegger, the foreign minister, will become vice chancellor. I don't know much about him, which means he didn't do many rant-worthy things. And he says he'll re-arrange his team, so - maybe?

4) Still no word who'll become the new minister of finance. My guess is they're having trouble finding someone. This is the party that didn't appoint a candidate for presidency because they couldn't find anyone willing to take the risk with a chance of success. If the two former major parties continue like this, Strache's right-wing party might become even more powerful. Ugh.

And this is not even half of the administration. There's much more to rant about. Sad.

Think positive - it might get better! Yeeeah, right. Maybe.